Halloween season is here as people will get in their most comfortable clothing and sit back and watch fun horror movies, scary horror movies or a little of both. People have horror marathons during October and it is fun for most people who are fans of the genre and/or of the movies. So, this is a movie that is the gateway to opening the month of October and seeing that this movie is directed by Eli Roth, I thought, "Oh, no. Not him." I think he is one of the worst directors in recent years as he made horrible movies in my opinion. I thought Knock Knock was better than most but still not good. The Green Inferno was one of the worst movies of 2013. And, the Death Wish remake is one of the worst movies of this year. Well, I'll give Roth credit to say that he has made a watchable film from the comfort of your living room but it was not for me.
Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) is sent to live with his uncle Jonathan (Jack Black) in Michigan after he lost his parents in a car crash. (What's with these children movies with parents dying in some sort of event?) Upon arriving, Lewis meets Jonathan's neighbor and best friend, Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett). Later, that night, Lewis plays poker with Florence and Jonathan and he wins every time as he is unaware that magic is involved. He asks Florence how she knows Jonathan and she replies that they both met after World War II.
The next night or a few nights later, Lewis thinks that he is dreaming seeing his mother (Lorena Izzo). She indicates that Jonathan is hiding something from him and the ticking sound that he hears is real. Lewis gets up and goes around the house in the dark and finds several creepy dolls. He finds Jonathan smashing one doll and Jonathan explains to him that there is magic within the walls. Jonathan is a practicing warlock and Florence is a magical witch. He tells Lewis that a sinister warlord named Isaac (Kyle MacLachlan) left a clock in the house before he died and Jonathan is trying to find out what it is meant to do. So, after Lewis has asked to learn to become a warlock, Jonathan decides to teach him and gives him a bunch of books to read.
I was amused and entranced by the set-up where we get into that mysterious and magical world inside that house. The art direction and the production design captures the peculiar, imaginative atmosphere that gets you fixated on the story, the characters and the world. But, the problems kick in in the mid-section which he unknowingly opens the book and resurrects the villain where it becomes heavy-handed, overly expositional and not as magical. The movie does not know how to find its tone and it is not as much fun in the end. You do not get as much involved in the plot and its conclusion in the second half as much as in the clever set-up.
I do like the performances of Jack Black and Cate Blanchett as they capture their characters with such charm and you believe their banter and magical and fun chemistry between them. Owen Vaccaro does give a very good performance as the boy who we follow along on the journey and I want to see what he can do next. Even though MacLachlan as good as the villain, I found the villain forgettable. His villain does not match the world and makes his reasoning overly dark and not fitting for a children's movie.
Eli Roth has details in its design with the icky pumpkins vomiting and the colorful visuals and captures it very well. This is a movie that is worthy of a rental for kids to enjoy to kick off the Halloween season as a first watch but I do not know if it will be repeated viewing as much as other Halloween children's movies or other horror movies. So, I can say that I like the first half of Roth's movie a lot, but the second half loses itself in an unbalanced, un-magical and uninvolved plot.
**1/2
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